Human Nature In I Only Came To Use The Phone, And The Lord Of The Flies

1697 words - 7 pages

In the Lord of the Flies and “I Only Came to Use the Phone” both authors create mini societies to portray the anarchy and the dehumanized, savage behavior going on in the outside world. Though both authors set out to show this human nature, Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, is more effective in doing so by placing objects from civilization on the island that bring out savage characteristics. These are characteristics that are hidden until isolation occurs.
Golding is found more effective in showing the human nature as savage by placing fire on the island. In order to construct a fire, a fire source is required: Piggy’s glasses. By making Piggy’s glasses one of the few resources to build a fire, it causes the boys on the island to desire them and even fight over them. The boys do not understand the power of fire, and they use it the wrong way. “They had smoked him out and set the island on fire” (197). This emphasizes the savage behavior in Jack and his followers because they are on a manhunt to kill Ralph. Though it is a tactical decision to smoke out Ralph, Jack and the others do not realize that the fire is destroying their food source. The fire that is placed on the island portrays the mini- society because the plane that the World War II soldier is in, is blown up in the air causing an explosion. This represents fire as an evil thing. “There was a sudden bright explosion and corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and stars” (94). This evidence proves that the chaos on the island is demonstrated in the rest of the world from World War II. Golding puts the fire on the island to draw out the savage characteristics of death being an acceptable thing. A boy dies in the fire on the second day and the followers of Jack try to burn Ralph to death. This is a prime example as to why Golding is found more effective.
In contrast, Marquez, author of “I Only Came to use the Phone”, places the phone in the mental hospital to cause Maria to become desperate and savage. She does this to show how isolation reflects actions of the outside world, but this does not happen because Saturno has sane actions and Maria has insane actions. Though the phone is a way that Maria would be able to escape, it does not help her. Her desperation to use the phone reflects Saturno’s desperation to find her. In the end, the phone causes her more harm than it causes her good. “Her tears over came her. On the other end of the line there was a brief horrified silence, and a voice burning with jealousy spit out the word: Whore” (86). Marquez tries to make Saturno appear dehumanized and savage by the way he is treating Maria, but he has a reasonable explanation to resent her. He thinks that Maria has left him for another man, so he does not want anything to do with her. This also leads Maria to become dehumanized by her actions for attention and her attitude to escape the hospital. This is an example of why Golding is found more effective in expressing the human...

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